Homemade Vegtable broth

I am looking for a recipe or directions to make a homemade vegtable broth? Can you then freeze it in quart jars or can it? I have tons of leftover fresh vegtable trimmings in the summer and was wanting to preserve it for winter soups? What seasonings do you add, or do you wait to do that when you actually use it? What vegtable combinations are good, what do you avoid? Thank you!

Answers

I like to keep a container in freezer for dis dat and the tuther
leftovers, etc. for purpose of making soup later. A Rubbermaid type
plastic container works better than a plastic bag. Less apt to get
freezer flavor. Keep adding to the contianer until enough to make
soup. Usually freeze chicken broth from boiling chicken in containers
size I will want for use later on. Liquids from vegetables are great
to save and use for liquid in the soup.

Potatoes turn mushy when frozen but that is o.k. for soups, will be
the thickening agent. Spinach is not the best to add to the soup pot
unless you are a spinach lover.

Fresh garlic will get into the air of the freezer regardless of what
you cage it in and if in frig freezer the ice will taste/smell like
garlic.

Cut foods in size wanted for the soup pot before freezing.

Celery tops work great but the leaves will turn brown if not used
soon. The top stalk parts work great.

I always keep a ziplock baggie, gallon sized, in the freezer. I put
all vegetable parings in them for soup stock. I also keep a bag for
bones from dinner for the same purpose. So when I make something
that calls for onion, in go the butts and heads, Garlic same, don't
forget the skins. Celery ends, tops, and the end bulb. I wash them
first and for potatoes I scrub the skin first then peel it.

If we have roast chicken, or something else for dinner with bones
I'll save the bones in the other bag. Also if I am making chicken
noodle soup and I don't have bones or meat, I will get chicken
breasts that are split with the bones in and cook them in the water
along witht he vegetable parings. After hours of simmering I'll
drain the broth/stock, and pull the meat off the bones.

I make a mixture of a little olive oil and couple tablespoons of
tomatoe paste in a large roaster. Stir and mix the raw veggies in
this mixture and sprinkle with salt, pepper, thyme, basil, margoram,
and sprinkle over it all a few garlic cloves (peeled) and bake until
all of them are tender and cooked all the way through. Don't remove
the vegetalbes from the pan when done. Just leave them there and add
water to cover to come about 3-4 inches above the veggies. Bring to
a boil on stove top and simmer for 45 min to an hour. When done you
can either strain the mixture or if you like the veggies you used in
the soup base, you can blend the broth with the veggies in batches in
a blender or food processor. If you want a meat base soup mix, just
add some chicken or beef boullion when you pour in the water. Cut
back the salt if you use the boullion. This recipe comes out perfect
every time and is an easy one pan to clean method.

Resident chef here.... Here is a great recipe for vegie stock ( it
can be canned quarts for 35 mins @ 10# pressure..) 7 quarts water, 1
# carrots ( this can be the peelings or leftovers) 6 stalks of
celery, ( again trimmings and leaves too ) 3 medium onions, 2 red or
yellow or green sweet bell peppers, ( use trimmings if you want but
no seeds as they get very bitter when cooked ) , 2 large tomatoes, (
no seeds on that one either) 2 meduium turnips diced, 3 cloves of
garlic, 3 bay leaves, 1 teaspoon whole thyme, 8 pepercorns ( if you
want it pretty, 1 tablespoon black pepper , ground if you dont
care ). cook all this for about 2 hours. Now if you dont care if its
pretty, you can run all this through a masher ( ricer or other) if
you care about how it looks, ( like for some soups with fish ect..)
then strain all this. I use a mesh stainer with 4 layers of cheese
cloth myself. If im gonna use it for homeade soups or for casseroles
ect... I just mush up the vegies as they have some nutritional value
and flavor. BEWARE!! Remove the bay leaves either way. I also have
another tip. In the summer , I always grow bell peppers. My family
and I dont like them to eat ( stuffed ect..) so I only grow about 5
or 6 plants... 2 red, 2 yellow, 2 green . As they ripen, I mince
them and spread them on wax paper lined cookie sheets, and place
them in the freezer. After about 2 hours, I pull them out and put
the frozen pieces into gallon zippy bags. and return to the freezer.
I use alot of bell pepper in soups and stew and homeade lasagna
sauce ect.. so this gives me a constant supply of bell pepper
without the extreme price. Hope this helps.

Thank you for all of your great ideas. Kristean, last summer I dried
several quarts of green peppers, but have never grown the red or
yellow peppers. I want to try them this year and also the freezing
idea:)